


y'know that scene when Peter is at Delmar's?? yeah

by tranquilatlast



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character Death, Forgive Me, I'm Sorry, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 11:23:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15142022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tranquilatlast/pseuds/tranquilatlast
Summary: Peter is trapped under a fallen building and he can't get free.AU in which he never makes it out from under the two tons of cement.





	y'know that scene when Peter is at Delmar's?? yeah

**Author's Note:**

  * For [1namelessalien1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/1namelessalien1/gifts).



> this was made for my pal since I couldn't find good angst for her sowwy
> 
> please be sure to read ALL the tags and enjoy!!

The cement knocks him down, stopping right as it presses against his back, and Peter’s vision goes blurry.

He’s seeing double and his chest feels crushed. He knows a few of his ribs are shattered, he can feel his chest swelling and every stuttering gasp makes him ache. The cement on top of him has to be two tons at the very least, and it’s not quite all the way on him since it had crashed onto another piece of the building after knocking him down. Still, his leg is trapped between ragged pieces of cement by the ankle and he can’t crawl out, can’t get enough leverage to move his arms from bracing the floor beneath him.

 _“If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”_ Mr. Stark’s stern voice, low with disappointment and irritation, fills his head, only adding to the jumble of thoughts buzzing around his mind. Peter is crying, only realizes because he tastes salt on his lips as he tries desperately to fill his lungs. He can’t move, he’s stuck, he doesn’t have the suit, he’s nothing. There’s a puddle in front of him and he can see his reflection. His face is deathly pale and covered in dust and dirt from the building’s collapse.

He was such an idiot. He knew there was something wrong, knew Toomes was planning for something to happen, knew he was being led into a trap when the guy just kept talking and talking. It was his fault Mr. Stark took his suit, his fault Liz’s last homecoming would be her worst, his fault he was stuck here under two tons of cement without any means of being rescued.

“Help!” he tries then. Peter is taken aback by the raw desperation in his voice, the burn in his throat, the stabbing pains in his chest. He’s panicking and he wants to keep a level head but he’s stuck and his ribs are broken and he’s trying to choke back his tears but he can’t. “ _Help!_ I’m down here, I-I can’t move, somebody _please_ –”

No one will hear him. He knows this. The warehouse was in an isolated spot, specifically chosen to stay off the radar. He has no phone on him anymore, he can’t call Mr. Stark or Ned or May. He was trapped, no way to contact anyone, no way to get free, no way to stop the Vulture from robbing the jet. Peter is completely, utterly alone, and it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to him.

“Please,” he cries, softer this time, a dry sob tearing itself from his throat. Peter stares at his reflection in the puddle, face now blotchy from the crying and blood he hadn’t noticed before snaking its way down his left temple. He tries to ground himself and tugs his foot in an attempt to get it out from where it was caught, but a shooting pain shoots up from his ankle. He gasps harshly and the cement slab shifts slightly above where it’s just barely pressing into his back.

No, no, no, no, he was really stuck, he couldn’t get out, he couldn’t call anyone, he couldn’t even try to get himself free because he’d be crushed into a gory pancake and he was going to die here. Peter went limp at the realization, his chest aflame. The threat of death always loomed over him, always followed him around. His parents were taken when he was just a few years old, Uncle Ben was taken just seven or eight months ago. Now it was his turn, finally, yet far too soon, and Peter was so, so scared.

He truly was nothing without the suit, Mr, Stark knew that. He knew Peter was just a kid, he was trying to mess with something far beyond his control. Mr. Stark warned him there would be consequences if Peter kept going on like this, and now those consequences had broken his ribs and sprained his ankle, leaving him totally helpless. Spider-man had been taken from the wheel and Peter Parker had crashed the car.

Why couldn’t he have listened? He was just a teenager. He was just a kid and he was going to die. If not from tons of cement smashing him down flatter than his favorite sandwich at Delmar’s, then broken ribs making each inhale a painful chore. Why didn’t he just listen?

Peter was fifteen years old. It was homecoming night, as well as the first school dance he’d ever brought a date to. His long-lasting crush, Liz, had actually accepted his invite. He’d actually invited her. Liz’s dad was a criminal, some crazy construction genius who made illegal weapons from tech no one on Earth was ready to use. Liz didn’t deserve any of this. No one deserved any of this.

Ned would be worried, he knew. Maybe not until later, when he was found. Peter knew his best friend adored him, he was the best hypeman anyone could ever ask for, the best person to talk to and his very own number one fan. He’d have faith in Peter, as he always did, and he’d done a great job of being Peter’s man in the chair and Peter wouldn’t ever get to tell him. He wondered if this would be on the news. Ned had always wanted Peter to be on TV, thought he deserved the recognition. If anything, Ned was the one who should be rewarded for being the most supportive kid in Queens.

Maybe not the news. Maybe May would call his parents, let them know Peter was dead through broken sobs and a watery voice. May had taken Uncle Ben’s death so badly. She didn’t eat, then couldn’t eat, couldn’t bear to spend Ben’s life insurance on anything until they had no money left. She’d had to go back to work not even a week afterwards, taking longer shifts. Whether to get a better paycheck or distract herself, Peter didn’t know. He would never know. She was just getting better, smiling and laughing and cracking bad jokes over Thai food, and now Peter was going to ruin her all over again. He didn’t even know if he had life insurance. Maybe she’d get some money from Mr. Stark.

No way. Mr. Stark wouldn’t give handouts like that. Peter wasn’t worth a few extra bucks. Even if he were, May probably wouldn't accept the money. “Sorry for your loss, I did tell him to listen and Peter was just too stubborn,” Mr. Stark would tell her. Peter wanted to be part of Mr. Stark’s team, wanted to do more than look out for the little guy yet still look out for the little guy, wanted to work alongside his mentor and hero. He’d disappointed Mr. Stark by sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, and as much as Peter hated himself for that, he hated himself even more for making Mr. Stark upset when he heard the news. For not being able to bond with him more. For being the one and only kid Mr. Stark had taken under his wing, and then getting crushed by a villain whose arrest he’d accidentally sabotaged.

The panic had subsided now, replaced by a cold feeling of dread. Peter had gotten himself into this mess, and he couldn’t possibly get himself out. Some metal groaned behind him, and he sucked a breath in through his teeth as the cement moved an inch lower. If there was any possibility of him getting free before, there definitely wasn’t now. Peter tried to calm himself down, tried to level his breathing, clenched and unclenched his fists, tried to prepare himself.

It didn’t work. He wasn’t ready. He was terrified. Sobs tumbled out of him then, choked gasps of breath failing him as his chest burned. Peter clenched his fists again, scrambling for purchase against the smooth floor, reaching up to lift the cement, more adrenaline in his veins than common sense. The puddle in front of his rippled from his heavy exhales and small inhales, his reflection going blurry and wavy and impossible to make out. Peter moved his foot again, failing to get it free, his ankle tender from his attempts.

“Please!” His voice sounded like he had never heard it before. Dry and raw and devastated. He sounded pathetic, helpless, scared. Peter wailed, pounding the ground, each movement adding to the excruciating pain in his chest. He didn’t want to die, he wasn’t ready to die, he wanted to mess around with LEGOs with Ned, he wanted to watch Aunt May fail at following a vegan recipe, he wanted to see Mr. Stark smile at him just once. _He was just a kid._ “Help! I’m stuck, I’m here, I need help!”

The silence was deafening and his ears started ringing. He can barely see through the tears but he knows he'd still see double and he thinks too late that he might have some kind of concussion. Pure panic has made itself heavy in his throat, he’s gagging as he sobs, he’s trying to move and he can’t move, can’t bear the pain and can’t bear the thought of being crushed.

Peter is alone and struggling and he can’t give up, he doesn’t want to. The Vulture is somewhere out there, stealing Mr. Stark’s things, planning out more weapons, weapons that will hurt a lot of people and profit his innocent, clueless family enough to last them decades of upper-class life. Happy will be crucified for this mistake and Mr. Stark will be providing harmful weapons just like before but against his will and Ned will see Peter’s name on the news and May won’t be able to function at all. Peter has so much going for him, he’s just a teenager, he’s got a few colleges and scholarships in mind, he hasn’t even gotten his first job, his first proper girlfriend, hasn’t met the other Avengers and _he’s going to die, he’s going to die, he’s not ready to die and he’s going to die._

Metal groans and cement comes down slowly and a pained scream tears out of his throat. Peter can’t breathe now, his chest is sending terrible, horrible, unbearable pain through his whole body and tears are wetting the ground right beneath where his chin grinds against it. There’s nothing he can do but tense up, shoulders straining as he tries to keep himself a steady support so the building won’t collapse any further.

Peter thinks of the resume he’s just started putting together. The Decathlon team he swore to dedicate himself to from now on. The missing LEGO Death Star pieces they were still trying to find after Ned had dropped it. The nice little old lady who bought him a churro. The disgusting walnut date loaf recipe May kept trying and failing to execute well. He thinks of how he wanted to work for Child Protection Services after Ben joined his parents. He thinks of the fact that there are so many people in Queens who are counting on Spider-Man to find their lost pets and help the elderly cross the street.

Peter thinks of the fact that he’s just a fifteen-year-old kid. He thinks of the fact that death scares him, always has. Thinks of the stern face of Tony Stark, staring him down as he takes the Spider-Man suit. _"If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”_  

"Come on, Spider-Man. Come on, Spider-Man." He has to try. Peter didn't want to go down without a proper fight. He would get out of here and fight the Vulture, save Mr. Stark's projects, he had to. He strains again, gasping for air as he pushes against the ground, against the cement, and feels it give way slightly. Another sharp burst of pain shoots through his chest, shocking him enough to make him go limp.

The cement falls all the way down, stopping at nothing, and Peter’s vision goes black.

**Author's Note:**

> y'know when he's at delmar's and he's like "and can you squish it down real flat thanks" that's what I was thinking about
> 
> I had to channel my inner angst for this I hope it's good even though it might be messy
> 
> thank you so very much for reading please do let me know what you think in the comments!!


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